MusicAmerican Guild of Organists, (816) 474-8260. Organ concerts are presented on the third Monday of each month by this organization of professional organists. Held at various churches.

Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, (816) 561-9999 or 877-My Seats. For 26 years, this organization has presented award-winning international performers, including string quartets, piano soloists, chamber orchestras and choral ensembles to audiences at the Folly Theatre. Call for a season brochure.

Kansas City Blues Society, (816) 474-4774. This group holds monthly jam sessions on the second Thursday at the Grand Emporium. They also host the annual Mardi Gras Club Crawl. Visit the Web site, www.worldmall.com/wmcc/kcblues.

Kansas City Symphony, (816) 471-0400. The year 2002 will be the symphony’s 20th year. During its 40-week season, the region’s largest professional orchestra performs concerts in the Lyric Theatre, 11th and Central, and the Music Hall, 13th and Central, October through May. The Symphony also performs at selected locations throughout the metro area.

Liberty Symphony Orchestra, William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo., (816) 781-7700, Ext. 5184. Professional and local musicians perform throughout the year.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the Lyric Theatre, 1029 Central (11th and Central), (816) 471-4933. The Lyric is Kansas City’s oldest performing arts organization. Artists from throughout the world perform in original language with projected text. Performances are accompanied by the Kansas City Symphony Opera Orchestra.

Medical Arts Symphony, (913) 588-5240. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have put together their musical talent to form this group of local artists. Appearing at Battenfeld Auditorium at the Student Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, they welcome new talent.

Missouri Valley Folklife Society, (816) 691-8717. The world’s finest traditional musicians in concert. They have country dances four to six times a year.

Mutual Musicians’ Foundation, 1823 Highland, Kansas City, Mo., (816) 471-5212. This national historic landmark is the place for late night jam sessions on Friday and Saturday.

The UMKC Conservatory of Music, 4949 Cherry, (816) 235-2730. Signature series concerts, student, faculty and ensemble performances in White Hall. Their academic program offers lessons in performing and teaching fields.

William Jewell College Fine Arts Series, (816) 415-5025. Founded in 1965 and operating ever since, this program presents quality events of music, theater and dance. It’s a three-series, 18-event season with occasional extra performances presented at the Folly Theater or the Music Hall.

Youth Symphony Association of Kansas City, (816) 722-6810. Kansas City’s talented young musicians participate in one of five orchestras or choirs.

18th & Vine District
Kansas City is proud of its 18th & Vine District, a neighborhood that was the birthplace of Kansas City jazz, the center of commerce for the city’s African-American community from the 1920s into the 1960s and a place where racial diversity was the norm. Federal, state and local grants and loans have helped the revitalization of this area become a reality.

Included in the 50,000-square-foot museum complex and performance facility is The Jazz Museum, showcasing Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Count Basie and Billie Holiday. The Blue Room Jazz Club features local artists. Also included are The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a Visitors Center, with an indoor theater that puts visitors on the corner of 18th & Vine in the 1930s. The Gem Theater was constructed in 1912 as a movie house for the exclusive use of African-Americans and is now a 500-seat cultural and performing arts center for musical performances, theater productions, dance theaters and multimedia events.

The Black Archives of Mid-America has one of the Midwest’s largest displays of African-American photographs, sculptures and paintings.

Rounding out the District are soul-food restaurants, African-American art galleries, gift shops and the 18th & Vine Authority, (816) 474-8463.